The Musical Man
by Ivy O'Hara
Summary: In order to graduate high school, Bella has to conquer through her last class of the day: theatre. As she tries to endure the class, she finds something unexpected that didn't come in her textbooks: her white knight. AH/AU
1. Welcome to Theatre!

Summary: In order to graduate high school, Bella has to conquer through theatre. As she tries to endure theatre, she finds that she possibly found her white knight. AH/AU BXE

* * *

Bella's POV

I curled strands of my bangs with my pointer finger as my government teacher was lecturing on the syllabus for his class. My teacher, Mr. Keeler, had been teaching at Forks High School since the Declaration of Independence was signed. Okay he wasn't that old but in the way his monotone voice escaped his lips, I couldn't say that it wasn't true.

It was the first day of senior year and it had been one interesting year so far. My English teacher is a neat freak, my math teacher snorts in every two sentences, my Spanish teacher acts like he's part of the soap opera "Days of Our Lives", my Gym teacher is fat and lazy, and there's my musical theatre teacher, Mrs. Sisler. I haven't gone to my drama class yet, but I know that it'll feel like a boobie trap set up for me to fall in. Drama is my danger zone, but my counselor informed me that I can't graduate without a visual/performing art requirement. I could have picked art, but I can't draw or paint to save my life. Even drawing a picture a tree would give me a F on my report card.

As Mr. Keeler kept going with his lecture, I thought about musical theatre. The thought of me entering on stage made me throw up inside my mouth. I swallowed the throw up, feeling the burning sensation on my throat. I tried to list the people that could possibly be in my drama class. The Hales, Cullens, Mike Newton, Jessica, Angela, Lauren, Tyler, and Eric. There was probably more than what I listed but those were defiant possibilities. I couldn't imagine a play without the Hales or the Cullens.

Government was over as everyone leapt from his or her seats in relief. Mr Keeler slowly went to his desk and slowly squat down onto his chair. I picked up my binder slowly, hoping that I would be late to drama. I should be happy that drama is the last class of the day, but two hours of torturement isn't something to look forward to.

I exited out of the classroom, walking through the hallways with kids that cleared the path for me. Why couldn't they block the path like they usually do? It's like they planned for me to get to my torturement sooner.

Five minutes later, I entered into the theatre. I saw maybe forty kids in the seats with Mrs. Sisler holding a clipboard. I saw Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen sitting together with their hands folding into each others. Rosalie and Edward were sitting next to each other as Edward was talking into her ear with her laughing hysterically. Emmett was sitting next to Rosalie with jealously traced around his cores. Mike Newton was sitting a row head of him with Jessica Stanley, his girlfriend, nibbling on his ear playfully. Angela Weber was reading next to Jessica, trying to ignore Jessica and Mike's love affair. I sat down far away from the crowd of kids, hoping the teacher doesn't see me. The teacher was screaming the attendance while everyone else was talking over him.

Mike Newton is the most popular kid in school next to Edward Cullen, the drama king. They are best friends and have been doing theatre their entire high school years. Mike isn't a good actor but he enjoys the class so much that he decides to take it over and over again. Mrs. Sisler never gives him good parts, which makes me laugh every time I see the program of every show.

Edward Cullen, the other hand, is a talented actor. He's been getting leads since his freshman year when they did _Sweet Charity. _He got Vittorio, the Italian actor who had a fight with his girlfriend Ursula. In sophomore year, it was _Beauty and the Beast_ and he got Beast who falls in love with the book freak Belle. Last year, it was _My Fair Lady_ and he got Freddy who gets insane after falling in love with a girl who speaks cockney. When Edward sung "On The Street Where You Live", it made me want to buy the soundtrack from the movie.

Even though I'm not a drama student, I always went to the plays Edward was in. The truth is I've had a crush on Edward since freshman year when he was nice enough to help me pick up the papers I accidentally dropped. He gave me a flashy grin and walked away. That's the relationship Edward and I built over the four years I have been going to high school. Some people may call it depressing while I call it pathetic.

Alice Cullen, his sister, is also a good actress. In freshman year, she was ensemble but I heard from my best friend Jacob Black that she was too busy for an actual part. She was Babette, the french made who has a rendez-vous with a candlestick in _Beauty and the Beast _and Eliza Doolittle, the young woman who can't even say "girl" in proper English in _My Fair Lady. _It wouldn't surprise me if she got a part this year. His sister can be friendly, but I never talk to her because she and Rosalie Hale, my arch nemesis, are best friends.

Rosalie Hale is Edward's girlfriend who's unbelievably talented that makes me unbelievably jealous. In her freshman year, she got Nikki, the bad ass, in _Sweet Charity, _Belle, the bookworm, in _Beauty and the Beast (_that's how Edward and Rosalie begun to go out) and Mrs. Pearce, the british maid (which isn't what she defines "a good part"), in _My Fair Lady _because she was "helping out the orphans". That was hard to believe. Rosalie can be a spoiled brat to everyone but Edward doesn't see that in her. I never understood men.

And there's Emmett Cullen, Edward's brother. This is where the soap opera begins.

Emmett is "unconditionally" (from the words of Jacob) in love with Rosalie. He is what I call "the jealous type" because I always see him glare at them when they show PDA in front of everyone. Emmett is also a talented actor but not enough to impress Rosalie. He was Oscar, the uptight dumper, in _Sweet Charity, _Gaston, the bookworm's admirer who has biceps the size of my head, in _Beauty and the Beast, _and Henry Higgins, the insulting English phonetics teacher, in _My Fair Lady._

Jasper Hale, Rosalie's brother, is always the one I tend to block out. He never plays a leading character so it's easy to forget about him. He's nice but pretty shy around other people he barely knows enough to make them as friend. It's hard to understand why he's in theatre.

"Isabella Swan?" The teacher yelled my name. Everyone paused from their conversations and looked back at me. I raised my hand to let her know I was here, but I wished I never did. "Isabella, you can come down a little further. Join us! We don't bite."

"Welcome to theatre crew, matey!" Mike tried to do an impression of a pirate but failed miserably. Jessica laughed hysterically, sounding like a hyena in the zoo that was viciously tickled to death.

_Some kids do_ I thought. Obeying her to avoid embarrassment, I got up sit two rows ahead of mine.

The teacher cleared her voice for the class to settle down. "Welcome class! I'm going to pass out a schedule for our musical we are doing this semester. This year's musical is going to be...drum roll!" Everyone patted their knees to make the sound of drums. "_The Music Man_. I need everyone to have your parents sign the schedule to make everyone can attend every dress and tech rehearsal. Does anyone have a question so far?"

"What if you don't have parents?" Tyler asked, giggling hysterically with Mike laughing with him in harmony. I couldn't help it but to roll my eyes in disgust over their stupid jokes that have no sense of humor in them.

"If that were to be the case, I would have your guardian sign it," Mrs. Sisler answered him, not hearing any anger in her voice. It surprised me that she didn't seem angry at Tyler like I would have been if I were the teacher. "Any more questions?"

"When are the auditions?" Mike Newton asked her.

"The auditions are next week during class. I want everyone to prepare a one minute monologue and a one minute song," Mrs. Sisler announced. I groaned silently in my chair, sliding down my chair to hide myself.

"Bells?" Jacob smiled, walking towards me with light chords wrapped around his shoulder. "You're going to act in a musical?" He burst out laughing, loud enough for the teacher to stop talking. He mouthed a "sorry" as the teacher continued. He walked over and sat next to me in the audience. "Why are you in this class?"

"I told you that I have to get a visual/performing art credit in order to graduate," I whispered to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "And you picked theatre?"

"Well I always see the plays they perform here so maybe I should be in one for a change," I shrugged. I was terrible at excuses and by Jacob's expression, he knew that too.

"Anymore questions?" Mrs. Sisler asked us loudly. "Yes Alice?"

"How long does the audition have to be?" Alice asked her politely.

"It has to be longer than thirty seconds but the audition can be ten minutes if you really want to. Any more questions? Yes, Emmett?"

"Does the song have to be from a musical?" Emmett asked her. It was amazing how serious the Cullens were sounding.

"I recommend it, but it doesn't have to be if you don't want to. Yes, Edward?"

"Do you want us to perform a contemporary or classical monologue?" Edward asked with his voice making my heart beat thunderously.

"Whatever fits the character you're trying out for. I want you to start researching characters from the musical and we'll start reading the script tomorrow. Any more questions?" The theatre was completely quiet. She cleared her throat again. "Very well then, you may take this time to look for monologues. Remember that you'll be graded on the audition."

"Jacob, do I have to audition?" I groaned to him, getting my pain out to him.

"Only if you want to be in the play. You can ask her if you can to be stage manager or assistant director," he suggested. "That way you don't have to audition and boss everyone around. Who knows, you might get Edward to notice you."

I glared at him for a slight second until the thought of me not auditioning entered into my brain. "Thank you for that. But Jacob, you're a genius. I'll be right back." I got up from my chair and started to walk down to the path towards backstage. I heard numerous chuckles behind me that puzzled me. What can possibly be funny about me walking down a path? I turned around and saw that people were focused on his or her monologues. I continued to walk towards the back stage with a shrug. I went through a dark hallway, seeing a little light coming from backstage. I reached the end of the hallway and saw that there were stairs to get to backstage. Mrs. Sisler was talking to the techies (except Jacob) as she was till holding her clipboard. I walked up the stairs, gliding my hand up the rail to keep myself from falling.

Mrs. Sisler immediately saw me and paused herself. "Isabella, how can I help you? Techies, get to work." The techies left to do whatever techies do.

"Hi, I don't want to audition—"

"Well no one likes to audition," she pointed out to me. "I know you must be scared to death, but all the actors will understand the feeling you'll be going through, I promise you."

"I know, but can I become a techie or stage manager? Acting isn't my forte," I chuckled to myself, feeling shier than I usually feel around people.

"Well Jacob Black is my stage manager but I could use another pair of eyes for directing. Would you be interested in becoming my assitant director?

"Yeah, sure," I stuttered, trying to find better words to say "yes".

"But are you sure you don't want act?"

"Oh I'm positive. Thank you Mrs. Sisler! So does this count still count as a visual/performing art requirement?"

"I suppose. You can help out the techies for now while I'll help the actors. I'll put you to work after the auditions and call backs. But I want you to do one monologue in front of the class at the end of the year."

"Okay, thank you Mrs. Sisler." I started to walk away by going down the stairs until…

"Oh Isabella?"

Oh crap I forgot to tell her I hated being called that. I turned around from my spot even though it seemed impossible due to the stairs. "Yes, Mrs. Sisler?"

"You have a hole in your pants."

Oh great.

* * *

**I hope you liked it! :)**

**~Ivy~**


	2. High Expectations

Edward's POV

I didn't have high expectations when I entered into drama class. It always remained constant with the syllabus never changing a single word (except the date, of course). Mrs. Sisler looked like she never aged for the past four years she's been my teacher. Her glasses remained in place on her nose and placed the clipboard against her ribcage with her arm cradling it.

I looked over at Rosalie, my girlfriend for the past two years. I couldn't deny myself that she was beautiful with her alluring smile swept across her face every time she saw me. It was sophomore year when I went head over heels for her. I never knew a stage kiss could really change my emotions rapidly. Of course I didn't get ahead of myself and asked her out immediately. I played "coy" to her and she took part into the game. Three weeks later, I asked her for a casual dinner and she told me she had plans. Despite the rejection, she got me aroused.

A month later, I asked her again if she wanted to go to dinner and to my astonishment, she said yes. Dinner was entertaining with our witty conversations that never left an awkward pause. I played it traditional by walking to her door and saying I had a pleasant evening. I gave her a kiss on the cheek, even though she was expecting me to kiss her somewhere else.

Ever since that date, we have been moving progressively. We kissed numerous times throughout the day even if we were attracting attention. It was our heated intimacy that kept the relationship going.

Mrs. Sisler was calling out attendance on stage with the lights aimed at her. Conversations were echoing throughout the theatre so I gave up trying to listen to her.

"I wonder what the musical is going to be," Alice got up from her chair to stand in front of me.

I shrugged. " You know Mrs. Sisler has always been mysterious when it came to productions."

"I hope we're not doing something like Oklahoma," Emmett brought up. "Mrs. Sisler belongs to that decade so I hope she doesn't make us part of it."

"Whatever the musical may be, we have to do it regardless," Rosalie pointed out. "I wouldn't complain about it Emmett, if I were you."

Emmett gave her a disgust look. I wrapped my arm around her, placing my hand onto her shoulder. I kissed her cheek, feeling her dimples rise up to form a smile. "What are we going to do tonight?"

"I think I have plans tonight…" She grinned, pulling me into her games.

"Shopping with Alice?"

"You always assume that but no. I have actual work I have to do."

I kissed her cheek. "Hmmm you couldn't pull it off for me?" I guided my hand up her back, tickling her. She laughed hysterically, squirming like a fish out of the water.

"Fine you win," She tried to talk through her laughter. "What time?"

"I was thinking after school…"

"Isabella Swan?" Mrs. Sisler called. Bella is in theatre? I turned around to see that she was isolated away from everyone else. Mike started to laugh along with Tyler and Eric. I rolled my eyes to Mike's humor that I never understood throughout the years of knowing him. Mike's a good friend but he and I were never similar once it came to humor. "Isabella, you can come down a little further. Join us! We don't bite."

"Welcome to theatre crew, matey!" Mike tried to impersonate a pirate. Jessica laughed hysterically next to him, which didn't surprise me for a second. I smirked at Mike, shaking my head back and forth. I couldn't believe that he and I exist in the same planet. To my astonishment, Bella moved down a couple rows but remained isolated.

The teacher cleared her voice for the class to settle down. "Welcome class! I'm going to pass out a schedule for our musical we are doing this semester. This year's musical is going to be...drum roll!" Everyone patted their knees to make the sound of drums. "_The Music Man_. I need everyone to have your parents sign the schedule to make everyone can attend every dress and tech rehearsal. Does anyone have a question so far?" I smiled at the musical we were doing. I was sure that Emmett was disappointed at the selection but it was better than _Oklahoma_.

"What if you don't have parents?" Tyler asked, giggling hysterically with Mike laughing with him in harmony. I mouthed "what" to Rosalie as she shook head disapprovingly. Tyler and Mike sometimes seemed like they had too much to drink when they come into theatre with the most ridiculous jokes.

"If that were to be the case, I would have your guardian sign it," Mrs. Sisler answered him. "Any more questions?

"When are the auditions?" Mike Newton asked her.

"The auditions are next week during class. I want everyone to prepare a one minute monologue and a one minute song," Mrs. Sisler announced. I kept thinking about the song I would want to do, but nothing came to mind. I could do "On the Street Where You Live" but that has nothing to do with Harold Hill's character. I could look at "22 Comedy Monologues 2 Minutes & Under" to see if I could find any monologues, but they never have anything that ranged my personality.

I heard a thunderous laughter behind and I automatically knew who it was. It was Jacob Black, Mrs. Sisler sidekick in theatre. I could describe my hatred towards Jacob, but it wasn't necessary. I'll narrate down to two words: teacher's pet.

Ever since freshman year, Mrs. Sisler praised Jacob for his efforts regardless the amount he did. He and Bella Swan are best friends, which strikes me odd because physically, they were complete opposites.

I occasionally see Bella and when I do, I somehow own an alternate universe remote to pause everything. I never talk to her because a part of speech never comes out of my mouth when she's near me. I wouldn't call it shyness, but rather watching for my reputation.

Looking back from my chair, I saw Jacob talking to Bella. He mouthed something I couldn't read (nor did I care) and sat down next to her.

Thankful to Mrs. Sisler, she resumed back to the syllabus. "Anymore questions? Yes Alice?"

"How long does the audition have to be?" Alice asked her politely. I didn't understand why Alice was asking her about the audition when Alice has done this millions of times.

"It has to be longer than thirty seconds but the audition can be ten minutes if you really want to. Any more questions? Yes, Emmett?" I groaned quietly. Really Emmett?

"Does the song have to be from a musical?" Emmett asked her_. Emmett you asked that question last year. If we were going to do the obvious question game, I might as well take part in that. _

"I recommend it, but it doesn't have to be if you don't want to. Yes, Edward?"

"Do you want us to perform a contemporary or classical monologue?" I asked her. Emmett gave me a look that I found humorous. If you wanted to play games Emmett, bring it on buddy.

"Whatever fits the character you're trying out for. I want you to start researching characters from the musical and we'll start reading the script tomorrow. Any more questions?" The theatre was completely quiet. She cleared her throat again. "Very well then, you may take this time to look for monologues. Remember that you'll be graded on the audition."

Mrs. Sisler walked away from us towards backstage to boss the techies around as usual.

"Which monologue are you going to do, Jazz?" Alice asked Jasper couple of seats away from Rosalie and me.

"I haven't made up my mind yet. Hey Edward, which character do you think I should try out for the musical?" Jasper asked me. "Alice told me that you're a fan of T_he Music Man."_

I nodded. "I see you being Charlie Cowell, the business man who looks for Harold Hill in River City."

"Are you going to audition for Harold?"

"Yeah."

"I think I'll audition for him too," Emmett announced conceitedly. "It'll be nice to have a lead for a change."

"Good for you," I told him, casually without any hint of competitiveness. Not reading my tone of voice, he gave me a hideous glare.

"Oh I think you would make a great Harold," Rosalie whispered to me, slithering her tongue up and down the side of my face. "Do you think I would be a good Marian, the librarian?"

I turned my face, softly grabbing her face with my fingers. I pressed my lips against her, slipping my tongue into her mouth seductively. My hands glided down to her—

"Hey look at Swan," Mike interrupted me, giving me a nudge on the shoulder. Rosalie and broke away from our kiss to see Bella walking down the stairs.

"What's so special about an innocent girl walking down the ramp? I was busy, Mike," I growled at him.

"Wait for it!" He told me impatiently. Bella was getting closer to our ramp as laughter increased the volume throughout the theatre. I finally found out while they were laughing: Bella had a hole in her pants. Very mature.

"Mike what did you do?" I whispered to him. "What did she ever do to you?"

"I didn't do anything! It just…happened magically somehow."

"Oh yeah the pants just felt like cutting themselves," I mimicked in a deep voice. "Are you that stupid?"

"Edward why are you being all defensive about it? You don't even know her."

He was right about that. I didn't know her but a part of me wanted to desperately.


	3. Auditions!

_Bella's POV_

* * *

One word: Auditions.

Theatre was chaotic with panicking, rising actors trying to hammer parts of his or her monologues. Their voices echoed throughout the theater, making it impossible for me to study for Government.

I sat on one of the seats with Jacob near the front row, while everyone else was on stage rehearsing. Mrs. Sisler was talking on her cell phone, trying to hear through her phone so she shouted loudly.

I spotted Edward reading through his book with Rosalie nibbling on his ear. I looked over to Jacob as he was doing homework too. I saw on his paper that it was a biology worksheet about mitosis. Those were the days.

"You need help with that?" I asked him. He looked over at me and shook his head. "Are you sure? I'm positive that number two isn't a scribbling picture of a rocket."

He laughed. "Mr. Whitman doesn't care what I put on my assignments. Just as long as I turned them in."

"When did he say that?"

"When he told me I was failing the class. He was at the point where he was desperate for me to turn stuff in so I can get a C."

Mrs. Sisler approached us with two copies of the list for techies. So it begins the adventures of theatre. "Here are your tasks for today. Bella, you'll not be able to watch the auditions because all I want you to do is clean backstage. Jacob, I want you to start designing the set for the library. Let me know when you're finish so I can get a hold of our technology director. Off you go."

We both leaped off our chairs and walked out of the auditorium. I walked up the stairs, feeling that the actors were staring at me. Mrs. Sisler assembled all the actors to sit in the seats as each actor one by one auditioned.

I dipped a rag into a bucket of water. I mopped the floors, humming to make the possible more tolerable. I began to sing, quiet enough so the actors don't get distracted. I sung, "The Sweetest Sound" from _Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella_, thinking I was portraying Cinderella, but in a different scenario. I heard the auditions begin and from my hearing, the actors sounded pretty good.

Edward was on stage. I paused to get a good chance to hear his monologue. He was flawless with the way he spoke and never screwed up the entire thing. Honestly, I wasn't very surprised. The class applauded fiercely, whistling like a professional audience. I continued to sing, hoping that singing would make the class go away. I mean singing was appropriate after all because I am in theatre class—well musical theatre really.

* * *

_Edward's POV_

"Next," Mrs. Sisler called after we watched Mike performed his monologue. I kept my laughter inside as I watched him approach Rosalie and me. Emmett went on stage and performed his monologue. The audience cracked up during his monologue because unlike Mrs. Sisler asked of us, he overly reacted to everything. It was like watching _Day Of Our Lives_ but less professional.

"Edward, would you like to go?" Mrs. Sisler asked me. I nodded, seeing that she scribbled my name down a notepad. Rosalie kissed my cheek as I stood up to go on stage.

"Oh before I start, Emmett can you go on stage?" I asked him. "I need you for the monologue I wrote."

"Hell yeah!" He boomed out of his seat and ran up to the stage. He sat down on a stair and somehow tied himself to a chair. My monologue was about me interrogating Brown (which in this case is Emmett.).

I slapped Emmett across his face like we rehearsed it. "Now Mr. Brown, we can negotiate or go down the road of hell. I'm a man with an open mind when it comes to decisions, looking at one thing and then another. You could both negotiate and come up with a price, or I let go of the lever and let you fall through my trap door. Either way, you will fall under my command painless or excruciating. Unlike you Mr. Brown, I'm patient so you can decide what you rather do. I'll be in the other room and make a couple phone calls."

I went off-stage and Emmett did too, even though he was stuck to a chair. The audience laughed at Emmett and roared with applause and whistles.

"All right, that's all today. I'm going to make the callback list. Wait until the bell rings," Mrs. Sisler instructed as she left the auditorium and went into her office.

"I bet you got Harold Hill," Jasper remarked. "Your monologue was the best one."

I shrugged. "It's anyone's game really. Alice, who do you think you're gonna get?"

"Probably Zaneeta because I'm the only one who can dance," Alice answered as she takes a seat next to Jasper, holding his hand.

"Do you hear that?" Emmett asked me.

"Hear what exactly?"

"Someone's singing back stage. She sounds good. Everyone be quiet!"

Everyone was actually silent. I did hear someone sing and really…sounded good. I got out of my chair quietly, walking closer to backstage. Rosalie looked angry while everyone else was too much in shock. I walked through the hallway and went up the stairs quietly. I took a peek from the middle step. Bella was moping the floor, singing with her head swaying back and fourth. My jaw broke open, astonished to see someone like she was sing so…beautifully.

I took another step up and another. I was at the same level as Bella was, seeing that she didn't notice me. After she was finished singing, I applauded, making her spill the entire bucket in shock. She gasped, cussing silently as the water absorbed her jeans and a little of her top.

"I'm sorry for surprising you. I'll help you clean up," I offered, grabbing rags that were on the table. I knelt down across from her and started to clean the water. It didn't work. The water kept getting absorbed onto the washcloth. I squeezed the water into the bucket and continued with that process. "Again, I'm very sorry."

"T—T—That's okay. I can take care of it," she shivered, seeing her arms filled with goose bumps.

"You have a pretty voice," I complimented. "Why don't you be in the musical?"

"Because I have stage fright," she answered. "Plus, I wouldn't be here if it weren't required to have a performing art credit. Mrs. Sisler was kind enough to have me being a stage manager count. Shouldn't you be watching the auditions?"

"Mrs. Sisler is working on the cast list," I explained. "Although you should audition."

She shook her head. "I'm all right for one day."

"Here," I unzip my leather jacket and placed it on her. "You can give it back to me tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. You need it more than I do."

For the first time in our conversation, she gave me a small smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She squeezed her rag. "You shouldn't be helping me."

"I want to, though. I feel bad for startling you," I smirked, squeezing my rag over the bucket. I noticed that there was a shade of pink on her cheeks that didn't seem natural.

"It's like freshman year all over again," she remarked. "When I dropped all of my papers in English class"

She remembered that too? "Oh I remembered that," I smiled. "Everyone had a good laugh."

"Yeah…laugh," she whispered, looking away from me.

"EDWARD?" I heard Rosalie scream from the auditorium.

"I guess that's my cue. You got it from here?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, thanks for helping me."

"Again, you're welcome. Bye, Bella," I walked away from her, slowly going down the stairs to the auditorium.


End file.
